# Growing your own pipe tobacco



## Quick_nick (Feb 10, 2008)

I was inspired by another thread to create this one. Do any of you grow your own tobacco like in your back yard. If there are some that do what are the processes you have to go through to grow, harvest, treat, and essentially come up with something smoke able. Growing tobacco has always been kind of a mystery to me. 

cheers


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## Kayak_Rat (Nov 28, 2005)

Tzaddi(Richard) did a pretty lengthy series on growing your own baccy. Search his started psots and you should be able to find it.


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## HIM_Tattoos (Jul 17, 2008)

I'm no expert but I like to grow my own herbs....:w


I've looked into growing tobacco but its so hard to grow correctly (it would have to be outdoors and big) plus the curing process is very long for good tobacco and you better be ready to dedicate a lot of time into it (ie. years)

Just my :2: its not worth it


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## tzaddi (Feb 24, 2007)

Growing tobacco can be as straight forward as growing tomatoes, which by the way are in the same family, Solanaceae.

It is the drying, curing and aging that requires the lion's share of the effort.

As spring draws near I will offer free seeds for those interested (US residents), my current seed stock of Nicotiana tobacum includes Havana, Perique, Mopan Maya and Connecticut. I also have seed for a California native variety, Nicotiana bigelovii.

I have devoted a large portion of this years crop to pipe tobacco, focusing on the Perique.

Gardening is a great school of education.


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## imperial Stout (Nov 21, 2008)

I was curious in this as well... I've grown a tobacco plant or two in the past when my brother gave me some seeds but wasn't familiar with the process and we just grew them for the novelty and fun of it. Not knowing what to do with it I plucked all the leaves and dried them in the oven then crumbled them up and smoked a little cigarette. It was all green and didn't really taste bad - just different. But I realize now there's a whole lot more to it but it may be fun to try again.


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## imperial Stout (Nov 21, 2008)

Here's a few links I dug up:

http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/showthread.php?t=84101&highlight=Tzaddi+growing+tobacco

http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/showthread.php?t=77343&highlight=Tzaddi+growing+tobacco

http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Archives/CA_Show_Article/0,2322,40,00.html


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## paperairplane (Nov 8, 2007)

My cousin in Cook Co, Georgia grows about 500 acres a year... much as I like smoking, there is a special kind of hell that is the hanging of green tobacco in a hot barn.


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## acrispy1 (Jan 26, 2008)

The last time I grew something to smoke in my pipe I was around 18.:tu


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## PipesandGOP (Feb 7, 2008)

growing tobacco's really fairly easy. I've done it a few times for fun but curing it is way more than I can handle.

The University of Florida Ag extension has a really great article on the subject that highlights all the major points. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/AA260
A few things you don't need to worry about so much that they mention here would be things like the nematode problem and getting a soil sample done... although your local agricultural extension office will more than likely offer this service for free.

Just start out with a seed tray and fill it with either a super fine growing mix/potting soil or preferably one actually labeled 'seed starting mix'. These are lower in fertilizers if there are any at all in the soil and the fine soil/peat moss along with the lesser degree of things like mulch and filler which can commonly be found in other potting soils. Tamp some seeds down on the soil... do not put them underneath the soil- rule of thumb is the finer the seed the more shallow you plant it and as fine as tobacco seeds are they need to just be in contact with moist soil. From there you just keep the soil moist, not saturated. Once the prospective transplant/s has about 4 or 5 leaves on it, soak it down with water enough to really saturate the soil to prevent damaging the delicate roots when transplanting it. Tobacco needs plenty of drainage and if your soil's a bit questionable, I'd just go ahead and plant your plants either on a raised row or on individual hills.

About a week before transplanting it you want to fertilize. It's commonly said that you can use tomato fertilizer because it's all in the same family. True that will work, but fertilizers for tomatoes and peppers contain phosphorus- the nutrient that produces blooms. In tobacco, you don't want the bloom unless you're growing it for decorative purposes. That's why you buy what is actually called TOBACCO fertilizer- such as 8-0-24 or 0-0-60, both of which have micronutrients that are highly beneficial to the growth of tobacco. Also it might be a good idea to throw some lime down. It's more likely to be a problem having too acidic soil than it will be having your soil a little sweeter. Optimum pH is 6.0-6.5 though.

As far as bugs go, 10% Carbaryl dust (Sevin dust is 5% carbaryl... might not knock everything out but can be used if you're not crazy about pesticides or if 10% is not readily available) should take care of most problems you might have. Getting back to the nematode issue, if you know you've had issues with them before or are just really worried about it you can use something like Nem-A-Cide.. just an insecticide geared toward nematodes.

One of the biggest things if you want to produce a quality plant is toppign. The day you see buds forming on the top of the plant, either break or cut the stalk out at that point. This will let your top leaves develop. One thing where the tomato/tobacco similarity is definately true is in suckering. If you want to produce a quality tobacco plant, it's necessary to break off all the suckers (the little leaves that shoot out around your main leaves). These serve no purpose other than just leeching the energy away from the plant that it can be using to produce nice big leaves perfect for smoking. Also be watching for blue mold as an overly rainy season can definitely bring it on.

From this point it gets on to what type of tobacco you grew. Virginias you crop, burleys you cut the stalk/pull up the plant and hang it up to dry all at once. I've had good luck growing both types but when it came to aging I just don't have the time to try it.

This is just me speaking from personal experience growing it myself, having parents/aunts and uncles that grew up in tobacco fields and barns (now widely replaced by electrically super-heated metal trailers), what I've been taught from the gentleman I work for who graduated from NC State's Ag program and another with a horticulture degree, trying different products and the luxury of dealing with sales reps that don't mind telling me if something's really necessary or not.

http://www.seedman.com/Tobacco.htm as a huge variety of seeds


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